Integrins are noncovalently associated α/β heterodimeric cell surface receptors involved in numerous cellular processes ranging from cell adhesion and migration to gene regulation (Dubree, et al., Selective α4β7 Integrin Antagonist and Their Potential as Anti-inflammatory Agents, J. Med. Chem. 2002, 45, 3451-3457). Differential expression of integrins can regulate a cell's adhesive properties, allowing different leukocyte populations to be recruited to specific organs in response to different inflammatory signals. If left unchecked, integrins-mediated adhesion process can lead to chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease.
The α4 integrins, α4β1 and α4β7, play essential roles in lymphocyte migration throughout the gastrointestinal tract. They are expressed on most leukocytes, including B and T lymphocytes, where they mediate cell adhesion via binding to their respective primary ligands, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM), and mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule (MAdCAM), respectively. The proteins differ in binding specificity in that VCAM binds both α4β1 and to a lesser extent α4β7, while MAdCAM is highly specific for α4β7. In addition to pairing with the α4 subunit, the β7 subunit also forms a heterodimeric complex with αE subunit to form αEβ7, which is primarily expressed on intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in the intestine, lung and genitourinary tract. αEβ7 is also expressed on dendritic cells in the gut. The αEβ7 heterodimer binds to E-cadherin on the epithelial cells. The IEL cells are thought to provide a mechanism for immune surveillance within the epithelial compartment. Therefore, blocking αEβ7 and α4β7 together may be a useful method for treating inflammatory conditions of the intestine
Inhibitors of specific integrin-ligand interactions have been shown effective as anti-inflammatory agents for the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. For example, monoclonal antibodies displaying high binding affinity for α4β7 have displayed therapeutic benefits for gastrointestinal auto-inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Id. However, one of these therapies interfered with α4β1 integrin-ligand interactions thereby resulting in dangerous side effects to the patient. Therapies utilizing a dual-specific small molecule antagonists have shown similar side effects in animal models.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for integrin antagonist molecules having high affinity for the α4β7 integrin and high selectivity against the α4β1 integrin, as a therapy for various gastrointestinal autoimmune diseases.
Such integrin antagonist molecules and related compositions and methods are provided by the present invention.